Your Smiling Face
| "Your Smiling Face" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dutch cover | ||||
| Single by James Taylor | ||||
| from the album JT | ||||
| B-side | "If I Keep My Heart Out of Sight" | |||
| Released | September, 1977 | |||
| Genre | Disco, funk, soft rock | |||
| Length | 2:30 | |||
| Label | Columbia/Legacy | |||
| Writer(s) | James Taylor | |||
| Producer(s) | Peter Asher | |||
| James Taylor singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Your Smiling Face" is a hit single by singer James Taylor. First available on the album JT, and released as the disc's sophomore single in September of 1977, "Your Smiling Face" peaked #11 in Cash Box magazine and at #20 on the Billboard Hot 100 near year's end. It reached #11 on the RPM Top Singles chart in Canada.[1][2] On Billboard's Adult Contemporary chart, it reached #6.[1][3]
Lines like "Isn't it amazing a man like me can feel this way?" reflect Taylor's surprise at his newfound happiness in his relationship with Carly Simon.[4] Rolling Stone Magazine critic Peter Herbst described it as being "unabashedly happy."[5] However, according to Taylor biographer Timothy White, the song was written for Taylor's and Simon's then three-year-old daughter Sally.[6] White described the song as a "pop sonnet."[6] Taylor described it as a "good, light-hearted pop love song."[6] Herbst praises Taylor's vocal for being " a pretty convincing rock singer" on the song.[5]
"Your Smiling Face" was a fixture in Taylor's live shows, but he had to abandon it for a while because he went through a period where he had difficulty reaching the falsetto notes.[6]
Popular culture
- The song was used in the 1978 film FM, starring Michael Brandon and Eileen Brennan.[7]
- It was parodied in the South Park episode "Fat Camp" as "The Prostitute Song."[8]
- James Taylor, on the kids' show, Sesame Street, sang a parody of this called "Whenever You See a Grouchy Face" to Oscar the Grouch.[9][10]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "JT Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ "RPM 100 Singles". Library and Archives Canada. December 24, 1977. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ "RPM Adult Oriented Playlist". Library and Archives Canada. December 10, 1977. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ Ruhlmann, W. "JT". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Herbst, P. (August 11, 1977). "JY". Rolling Stone Magazine. Retrieved 2014-05-29.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 White, T. (2009). Long Ago And Far Away: James Taylor - His Life And Music. Omnibus Press. pp. 248–250. ISBN 9780857120069.
- ↑ "FM Soundtrack". IMDB. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ O'Neal, S. "10 Underrated South Park Songs". nerve.com. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ "VH1 Music Studio: Past Programs and Lesson Plans". VH1. Retrieved 2014-04-01.
- ↑ Brenner, J. (November 22, 2013). "Sesame Street Turns 44: Our Favorite Celebrity Moments!". Parade. Retrieved 2014-04-01.